On Long Beach Island, clam industry important to both visitors and residents

Saturday

Jul 13, 2013 at 12:01 AMJul 14, 2013 at 9:14 AM

LONG BEACH ISLAND, N.J. - Residents of Long Beach Island enjoy steamed clams, stuffed clams, clam sauce and clams on the half-shell as well as white and red clam chowders. But they also "dig" clams as tourist attractions and teaching tools.

LONG BEACH ISLAND, N.J. — Residents of Long Beach Island enjoy steamed clams, stuffed clams, clam sauce and clams on the half-shell as well as white and red clam chowders. But they also “dig” clams as tourist attractions and teaching tools.

Just put yourself in the hands of ReClam the Bay volunteers who turn clam-loving tourists into environmental stewards.

On Long Beach Island, visitors can stalk wildly decorated 5½-foot-high clams along the Clam Trail, hold baby clams in their hands, learn about their “secret lives” and appreciate their role in protecting Barnegat Bay.

In the past eight years, the volunteers have raised 11 million clams and 3.3 million oysters in waterside “nurseries” and then poured them into Barnegat Bay.

They’re doing their share to ensure a steady supply of clams for do-it-yourself clam diggers but they’re also treating visitors to an educational experience.

Their Ocean County Clam Trail map of four subtrails includes two on the island. Follow them to find the giant clams and get “clam clues” and “water wisdom” from plaques displayed with the giant clams or from clam cards available at area businesses. Visit www.reclamthebay.org to see an interactive version of the map and learn where you can get your own copy.

What can you learn from the clams or cards?

The card accompanying the giant clam outside the LBI Chamber of Commerce in Ship Bottom notes, “ Starfish eat clams by using their arms to pry apart the two shells, and then eat the clam’s soft body inside.”

The most enlightening experience comes from visiting one of ReClam the Bay’s nurseries, or "upwellers,” where volunteers offer hands-on opportunities. You can see and touch the shells of Barnegat Bay’s edible shellfish and baby clam “seeds” — which grow from larvae the size of a pencil point to babies the size of M&Ms during their first summer’s growing season.

The volunteers talk about clams’ (and oysters’) roles in keeping Barnegat Bay’s water cleaner — they use their siphons to filter and clean the water. What do waterside scholars learn about protecting the bay and the clams in it? Simple ideas such as using less nitrogen-based fertilizer or building a rain garden of plants that soak up nitrogen before it gets into the bay.

After the clams are removed from the upwellers at the end of their first season, they’re "planted” in the bay, beneath screens protecting them from predators, for a second growing season. After their second summer, they’ll be about the size of bottle caps and big enough to face the world on their own. But they’ll go through still another growing season, to reach their legal size of 1½ inches in length. That’s when they’ll face their biggest predators: clam lovers.

Although clam diggers can hunt in any approved waters (look for them on maps at www.nj.gov/dep/bmw/waterclass.htm), hunting should be good where ReClam the Bay “plants” the clams it raises. Volunteer Charlie Brandt says the location is off Island Beach, north of Barnegat Inlet.

Before you go clamming, Brandt warns, “You’ve got to have licenses, even for your kids.” Other rules: You can go clamming only between sunrise and sunset and not on Sundays. The daily limit is 150 clams.

Licenses are available online (a nonresident adult pays $20 for the summer season) at www.nj.wildlifelicense.com or you can pick one up at a licensed agent such as Surf City Bait & Tackle, 317 Long Beach Blvd., in Surf City.

Brandt’s favorite way to enjoy clams: “When you’re in the bay, dig them out with your toe, cut the shell, rinse off the sand and/or mud in the bay and then eat them. Do not get into your boat first. They won’t seem nearly as fresh.

“That’s why you never clam without a clam knife in your pocket.”

If you’re not feeling energetic enough to go clamming or prepare clams at home, island restaurants boast chefs who are trained to treat them well.